With effect from 1 September 2003, the Dublin II regulation determines which of the countries in the "Dublin area" is responsible for examining an asylum application. For example, it applies when an asylum-seeker enters the EU through one Member State but then moves on and requests asylum in another member State. The purpose of the Regulation is to determine which State is responsible for examining an asylum application, to make sure that each claim gets a fair examination in one Member State, and to discourage persons from applying for asylum in more than one country.
The "Dublin area" or "Dublin II area" includes Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain, United Kingdom, Slovakia, Slovenia and Sweden. Norway and Iceland do participate though they are not EU Member States.
Responsibility for examining an asylum application is attributed to a member state on the basis of a series of criteria.
By order of priority, responsibility is attributed:
- To the member state where a member of the family of the asylum seeker is already settled as a refugee
- To the member state who had granted a stay permit to the asylum seeker
- To the member state who had granted a visa to the asylum seeker
The member state to which such a responsibility has been attributed must let that person enter its territory. It must process his/her application and if necessary let that person back in again if he/she has gone to another member state without permission (for this purpose, the EU has created a database called EURODAC to compare the finger prints of asylum seekers).
Consideration of your application under the Dublin II Regulation
In some cases, applicants may be required to participate in a separate interview relating specifically to the consideration of an application under the Dublin II Regulation. However, in some cases, information will be gathered during the course of the initial interview or as a result of fingerprint evidence.
If at any stage during the course of the investigation of your application, it appears that your application should be dealt with in another Dublin II Regulation State, your application may be dealt with in accordance with the Regulation.
Your case may be one where Ireland requests another Regulation State to take charge of your application. For example, this would include a transfer for family unity purposes or where another State has issued you with a visa or work permit or where you regularly crossed the frontier of another Regulation State prior to applying for asylum in Ireland.
Alternatively, Ireland may request that another Regulation State take back your application because, for example, you have made an asylum claim in another Regulation State and that the claim has not yet been finalised, or you made an asylum claim in another Regulation State and you withdrew your asylum claim in that State or your application for asylum was rejected and you are in Ireland without permission.
If another Dublin II Regulation State is found to be responsible for examining your application and the State agrees to accept responsibility for the transfer of your application, you will be informed immediately (in writing) that it is proposed to transfer you to that country for consideration of your application.
For a full version of the Dublin II Regulation, click here